I had a terrific Telephone Town Hall with the health minister Greg Hunt last week.
More than 2000 people listened in as we discussed the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine and other subjects of interest to the people who called in.
As most people will know, the vaccine rollout started last week, which is fantastic news.
Minister Hunt explained how the rollout is following a risk profile – starting with those most at risk and then working from those aged 80 and above down.
You can use the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility checker to see in which phase you will be eligible to receive a vaccine. Just jump online and visit covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility
You can get the vaccine at your GP or at one of the national vaccine clinics. For an interactive map with a full list of providers close to you, visit australia.gov.au
We know that the vaccines are effective in preventing serious illness and death and they are safe and effective.
The dosage error that happened last week was extremely unfortunate and must have been upsetting for the people involved. It is important to note however, that the patients had no ill effects.
The Chief Health Officer Professor Paul Kelly said: ‘In the early clinical trials of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, they did actually experiment with different doses of the product, including one three or four times higher than what they’ve eventually been the prescribed doses.”
The government is committed to being fully transparent with every stage of the vaccine rollout and every adverse affect that is recorded with the vaccine will be made publicly available on the TGA website.Â
I want to thank everyone in our community for all the work everyone has done to help keep us all safe over the past year. It’s taken sacrifice and at times it has been hard.
While the vaccine is not compulsory, I urge everyone to get it. It won’t just keep you safe, it will also keep your family and friends safe and will help us all get back to our normal lives again.
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